Extreme Sailing Series Owner Merges to Create New Company

Extreme Sailing Series owner, clinic OC Thirdpole has merged with Patrice Clerc & Associates (PCA) to create a new sports marketing company called OC Sport.

As part of the deal, asthma OC Sport will own 100% of the Extreme Sailing Series – acquiring a slice of the event that has been owned by Swiss investors including Ernesto Bertarelli since 2010. The deal has also involved Matignon Investissement, doctor a  company that takes minority stakes in high-growth entrepreneurial companies.

Since the loss of iShares as title sponsor at the end of 2009, the Extreme Sailing Series has been kept alive through private investment. The investment by Alinghi’s Ernesto Bertarelli is described by OC Sport as ‘significant’ – and it has  funded the growth of the event from a European tour into a global series. Investment also allowed OC to acquire the rights to the Extreme 40 class in September 2010, allowing the events organisers to control the evolution of the boat.

The new President of the Board of OC Sport, Patrice Clerc commented: “Extreme Sailing Series will remain a core part of the OC Sport overall strategy, as a global event it takes us in to some exciting markets and iconic cities. The recent owners have done an excellent job of developing the product to be one of the benchmark events in professional sailing, and we are looking forward to taking it even further in the future.”

As well as the Extreme Sailing Series, the sailing side of OC Sport looks after the Artemis Offshore Academy and activation of Nespresso’s sponsorship of sailing including the America’s Cup. OC Sport is also involved with the MOD70 Tour – including the selection of venues and have been key to the development and running of the Barcelona World Race. OC Sport also owns the rights to ‘The Transat’ offshore race.

However, since the merger with Thirdpole in September 2010, the company has been heavily involved with other outdoor sporting events including cycling, biathlon and marathons. The new deal will see the sports marketing consultancy and athlete management side of the business bolstered.

The new part of the OC Sport is PCA and its subsidiary Ocho Sport. PCA is based in Paris and was founded by Patrice Clerc, Benoit Coville and Sam Primaut in 2009. It is described as: “a leading consultancy service offering strategic and operational support for brands involved in sport and leisure.”

Patrice Clerc will become President of the Board of OC Sport. He has extensive experience in the creation, management and development of major sports events over the last three decades and as Chairman of Amaury Sport Organisation from 2000 to 2008 has been involved with events like the Tour de France, the Dakar Rally, the Paris Marathon and the French Golf Open. From 1984 to 2000 Clerc was Managing Director of the Roland-Garros French Open.

Patrice Clerc commented on the OC Sport deal: “Our current business centers around helping our clients define a strategy to develop their sport or leisure activities whilst evaluating performance and measuring the impact of the strategies, as well as advising and supporting them in their media and marketing activation campaigns. We are very motivated by this merger as OC ThirdPole has built an outstanding track record in the field of sports event management on a global level, and together we feel we have enormous potential to develop as an outdoor sports focused company.”

Rémi Duchemin, will keep the title of CEO in the new OC Sport. He said about the merger with PCA: “The experience of Patrice Clerc and his team will be hugely effective as we move forward with our business goals of developing our existing properties and projects, as well as growing our current portfolio of 20 events and 120 clients – brands and public authorities – around the globe. The combined talent and experience of the new team created by the merger will allow us to accelerate our business plans, permitting us to inspire even more people through professional sailing and outdoor sports.”

The new business will fully own the existing operating companies of PCA, its subsidiary Ocho Sport, and OC ThirdPole, in France, Switzerland and the UK and maintain full-time offices in each country. OC Sport employs around 70 staff.